A Jamestown Settler Describes Life in Virginia: On This Day, January 13, 1622

In 1622, colonist Sebastian Brandt wrote a letter to a merchant in London, seeking supplies and assistance. Brandt had arrived in Jamestown intending to scour the land for precious minerals such as gold, silver, and copper. But he was impeded by the deaths of his wife and brother, his own illness, and a lack of supplies. He asks Henry Hovener to send him a long list of necessities. including a bed, clothing, shoes, cutlery, cheese, spices, "cullerd beads" to trade with Native Americans, and a strong young man to assist him in mining. Though he lacks money and gold, he assures Hovener that he can pay the Virginia Company back with "Tobacco Bevor and Otterskins."

The letter stands as eyewitness testimony to the many hardships facing migrants who traveled to Virginia to seek their fortunes. Brandt most likely never found his fortune. He does not appear in any known existing official records, and he likely died not long after writing this letter.